PechaKucha Night is back, bringing artists of all types together for creative conversation

Artists talking to each other about their work is nothing new, but PechaKucha Night's aim is to get artists from all different mediums in the same room to discuss their creative processes. Founded in Tokyo in 2003, the event has a rigid format that chapters all over the world follow: Presenters compile twenty slides that each run for twenty seconds, giving them six minutes and forty seconds total to offer presentations on everything from architecture to opera.PechaKucha returns to Denver tonight after a nearly two-year hiatus, with a night at the new History Colorado Center that focuses on history. With topics ranging from museum architecture to Colorado ghost towns to the development of opera in the Amazon and Colorado, an assortment of creative types -- including Kenny Be! -- will speak informally on subjects they're passionate about.

When new organizer Andrew Pogue moved from Austin to Denver, he decided to get involved with a local chapter of PechaKucha. "I went to several PechaKuchas in Austin and really enjoyed them and it was always something that I looked forward to going to," he says. "I went to architectural school in Texas, so after I graduated I really missed that conversation that you have in academia, that kind of creative conversation. So it was fun to have PechaKucha to kind of fulfill that and facilitate that conversation."

But when he found that Denver's chapter was taking a break, he decided to jump on board and help facilitate its rebirth. The result is this night of collaboration between former PechaKucha organizers Jaime Kopke and Angela Schwab, History Colorado and Pogue, who all helped curate the eight speakers. From here on Pogue will be helming the creative event; he says he plans to organize four to five sessions per year, all fulfilling the mission of bringing people together to talk and think about creativity and inspiration.

"PechaKucha is a fun thing because it facilitates a night where these people from seemingly very different fields come together and are able to talk and interact," says Pogue. "I hope they're able to see how these seemingly unconnected fields are all connected and how people use the creative process in a wide variety of disciplines."

PechaKucha Night will include eight talks, separated by a beer break, at the History Colorado center. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; the program starts at 8 p.m. There's a suggested donation of $5. For more information, visit PechaKucha Night Denver's website, Facebook page or Twitter.